Will the Reader's Digest Pull out of Bankruptcy?

No, say it isn't so - that the Reader's Digest has filed for bankruptcy. Thislittle magazine has been one of my favorite magazines of all times. I alwaysfound something in it which I wanted to tear out and keep. I think by now ifI had done so, I would have a small mountain or at least a tiny hill of articles.

I have subscribed to a lot of magazines in the past including Mother Jones, Ode, U.S. News & Report, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, E Magazine and others and though, while all have something to commend them, I would place the Reader's Digest at the very tippy top of my favorites.

Just today I pulled out the January '09 Digest and on it's cover I had affixed a memo listing the articles which I thought deserved a second read: 'The Seeker - starting an orphanage in Nepal', 'Changes of heart - troubled teens caring for unwanted dogs', and 'Northern Exposure- swimming the world's coldest waters.'

One I hadn't even listed and now find very providential is titled: 'Memo to the President.' I think reading it at the beginning of President Obama's term in office would not have been as meaningful to me as it is now. Maybe PresidentObama read this article too and maybe he was trying to do so much in a shorttime because of it. However, I am only conjecturing. This article began bysaying to the newly elected president: ''Congratulations on your historicvictory. Now you --and we--have work to do. We asked 18 Statesmen and women spanning the political spectrum to give you their best advice on the most pressing issues we face. Their answers offer wisdom and counsel to you--and, by extension, to us all."

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Here is their advice in a nutshell. To read their full text requires going toJanuary '09 Reader's Digest.

1. David M. Abshire - president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency:TALK BUT ALSO LISTEN. (Timeless and worthwhile advice.)

2. Karl Rove -former top White House aide: ENCOURAGE DEBATE.

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3. Anne-Marie Slaughter - dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and international Affairs at Princeton University: REMIND US WHAT IT TAKES TO BE GREAT.

5. Madeleine Allbright- former Sec. of State: RESTATE THE CASE FOR U.S. LEADERSHIP ABROAD.

6. Bernard-Henri Levy - French philosopher and writer: HONOR AN AMERICANHERO. (I submit that someone should publish a book on our heroes. If not been done already, I believe it may require more than one book on this worthwhile subject.)

8. Robert D. Hormats - former assistant secretary of state and current vice chairman of Goldman Sachs (international): STOP THE CYCLE OF DEBT. (Didn't we bail out Goldman Sachs? If so - very strange counsel.)

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